Monday, February 6, 2012

Art Class

Mrs. Duncan rang
her little bell to get the students’ attention. The class of second graders
stopped working on their art projects and looked up. The entire room seemed to
be a mess of paint and glue and scraps of paper.

“Okay class,” she
said, walking in front of the chalkboard. “It’s almost time for lunch, but I’m
very curious to see what kind of art you’ve been able to make out of recycled
materials. Does anyone want to go first?”

Timmy raised his
hand. “I do, Mrs. Duncan. I used a bunch of old popsicle sticks to build a birdhouse.”
He held up a very lopsided and sticky-looking box with a hole in one side.

“Why that’s very
nice, Timmy,” said Mrs. Duncan. “And you kept those popsicle sticks from ending
up in the trash. Does anyone else what to share what they recycled?”

Regina raised her
hand next. “I painted an old soup can and turned it into a pencil holder.” She
held up her purple and pink can, which contained a few loose pencils.

Robbie lifted up
his creation, which looked like a small car made from egg cartons, tape, pipe
cleaners and a few pieces of trash. He set the car on the ground, grabbed a
handful of macaroni from a tub on his desk and poured it into a hole in the
car’s hood. Within seconds, a small whirring sound started and the car began to
putter. Then a puff of black smoke shot out of the back and the car took off,
speeding between the desks and out the door. The students rushed to follow it
and watched as it ran down the long school hallway until it was so far that
nobody could see it anymore. Only a streak of smoke was left behind.

“Back to your
seats, everyone.” Mrs. Duncan rang her little bell again. She waited until
everyone was seated before continuing. “That’s a nice try, Robbie, but there’s
no way the EPA would approve of a machine with emissions like that. Who’s next?”

Mrs. Duncan’s
comment made Robbie a little sad, but he did have to admit that the exhaust
system on his car could have benefitted from a carbon monoxide filter or particle
abatement device. He thought about building one out of cardboard, but he became
distracted and forgot about it when Mandy showed the toy catapult she made from
pencils and rubber bands. That was pretty cool.